Anastasio ("Tacho"
Somoza García (1 February 1896 – 29 September 1956) was officially the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 to 29 September 1956, but ruled effectively as dictator from 1936 until his assassination. Anastasio Somoza started a dynasty that maintained absolute control over Nicaragua for 44 years.
The son of a wealthy coffee planter, Somoza was educated in the United States. He assisted the ousting of President Adolfo Díaz after his return to Nicaragua, becoming foreign secretary and taking the title of "General." With the help of the US Marine Corps—occupying Nicaragua at the time—Somoza became head of the National Guard. This gave him the power base to oust President Juan Bautista Sacasa—his wife's uncle—becoming president himself in 1937. In 1947, he was succeeded in power by an ally, but remained in power as commander in chief.
A month after his successor had been inaugurated, Somoza used to the military to carry out a coup. The president declared 'incapacitated' by Congress and Somoza served in his stead. Returning to power in his own name in 1951, he maintained an iron grip on his own Liberal Party while making a deal with the Conservatives; thus, he faced no opposition. This left him free to amass a huge personal fortune. On 21 September 1956, he was shot by poet Rigoberto López Pérez. Mortally wounded, he was flown to the Panama Canal Zone where he died a week later. His eldest son Luis Somoza Debayle took over, to be succeeded by his younger brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who was forced to flee in 1979 and assassinated in exile in Paraguay the following year.
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Ruler of Nicaragua[edit]
Somoza's control of the Government[edit]
A series of puppets ruled for the remainder of the year, and, in December, Somoza was elected president by a margin of 107,201 votes to 100—an implausibly high margin that could have been obtained only through massive fraud. He took office on New Year's Day 1937.[2] Somoza, popularly known as "Tacho," amended the Constitution to centralize all power in his hands. Family members and key supporters monopolized key positions in the government and military.
While opposition parties continued to exist on paper, in practice, the system was heavily rigged in favor of Somoza's Nationalist Liberal Party. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, he acquired immense personal wealth, primarily through investments in agricultural exports, particularly coffee, cotton, and cattle. Following the massacre of Sandino's followers, he acquired most of the land that had been granted to them by Sacasa.
More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Garc%C3%ADa
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